Tehran-Moscow projects key to countering US sanctions: Iran president to Russian PM

Pezeshkian made the remark in a meeting with Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin of Russia who arrived in Tehran for an official visit on Monday, amid heightened tensions in the region.

Mishustin was accompanied by a high-ranking delegation of officials and heads of economic organizations.

Pezeshkian said the agreement to turn Iran into a transit and gas hub in the region is a prime example of joint cooperation aimed at securing common interests and achieving sustainable development, convergence and economic leap in the region.

He added the exchange of diplomatic delegations between Iran and Russia will boost bilateral interaction.

Pezeshkian further underscored that regional cooperation within international organizations such as BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) will boost the power of independent countries, including Iran, Russia and China, to counter US unilateralism.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Monday that Moscow’s trade links with Tehran were developing.

“The only thing I can say is that our trade and economic relations with Iran are developing. They are developing in all areas, and in trade too. The volume of trade is growing mutually.”

Elsewhere in his remarks, the Iranian president warned that Israel is intensifying tensions with the direct support of the United States in order to prepare the ground for increasing the presence of the United States in the region.

This poses a “common threat to the interests of the regional countries and nations”, he said.

The Russian prime minister, for his part, said Moscow is keen to improve interaction with Iran, particularly in the fields of energy, industry, transportation, agriculture, health and cultural issues.

Mishustin added the two countries have succeeded in increasing trade exchanges but still they enjoy enormous capacities to secure common interests.

He underlined the importance of strengthening bilateral cooperation in line with efforts to build a new world order which will be beneficial to everyone.

He invited the Iranian president to take part in the BRICS summit in Russia next month.

The Russian premier expressed concern over the escalation of tensions in the region and said the US supports mounting conflicts in different parts of the world with the purpose of securing its own interests.

Therefore, he emphasized, independent countries like Iran and Russia, should accelerate cooperation to counter such measures.